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on Education |
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Issue of 2014‒03‒01
twenty-two papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao Universidade da Beira Interior and Universidade de Lisboa |
| By: | Ron Zimmer; Brian Gill; Jonathon Attridge; Kaitlin Obenauf |
| Abstract: | This article uses data from Ohio, a state that allows a wide range of organizations to authorize charter schools, to examine the relationship between type of authorizer and charter-school effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | Charter School Authorizers, Student Achievement, Education |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2014–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:8003&r=edu |
| By: | Kevin Booker; Brian Gill; Tim Sass; Ron Zimmer |
| Abstract: | This issue brief discusses a new analysis, using data from Florida and Chicago, suggesting that charter high schools are not only increasing postsecondary educational attainment but may also boost students' long-run earnings. |
| Keywords: | Charter High Schools, Educational Attainment, Earnings, Student Achievement, Education |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2014–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:8004&r=edu |
| By: | Bet, German (Northwestern University); Cristia, Julián P. (Inter-American Development Bank); Ibarrarán, Pablo (Inter-American Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of increased shared computer access in secondary schools in Peru. Administrative data are used to identify, through propensity-score matching, two groups of schools with similar observable educational inputs but different intensity in computer access. Extensive primary data collected from the 202 matched schools are used to determine whether increased shared computer access at schools affects digital skills and academic achievement. Results suggest that small increases in shared computer access, one more computer per 40 students, can produce large increases in digital skills (0.3 standard deviations). No effects are found on test scores in Math and Language. |
| Keywords: | technology, education, digital skills, impact evaluation |
| JEL: | I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7954&r=edu |
| By: | Jeffrey Max; Steven Glazerman |
| Keywords: | Disadvantaged Students, Effective Teaching, Student Achievement, Teacher Evaluation Systems |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2014–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:8000&r=edu |
| By: | Kevin Booker; Brian Gill; Tim Sass; Ron Zimmer |
| Abstract: | This working paper discusses a new analysis, using data from Florida and Chicago, suggesting that charter high schools are not only increasing postsecondary educational attainment but may also boost students' long-run earnings. |
| Keywords: | Charter High Schools, Educational Attainment, Earnings, Student Achievement, Education |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2014–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:8005&r=edu |
| By: | Guarino, Cassandra (Indiana University); Reckase, Mark D. (Michigan State University); Stacy, Brian (Michigan State University); Wooldridge, Jeffrey M. (Michigan State University) |
| Abstract: | School districts and state departments of education frequently must choose between a variety of methods to estimating teacher quality. This paper examines under what circumstances the decision between estimators of teacher quality is important. We examine estimates derived from growth percentile measures and estimates derived from commonly used value-added estimators. Using simulated data, we examine how well the estimators can rank teachers and avoid misclassification errors under a variety of assignment scenarios of teachers to students. We find that growth percentile measures perform worse than value-added measures that control for prior year student test scores and control for teacher fixed effects when assignment of students to teachers is nonrandom. In addition, using actual data from a large diverse anonymous state, we find evidence that growth percentile measures are less correlated with value-added measures with teacher fixed effects when there is evidence of nonrandom grouping of students in schools. This evidence suggests that the choice between estimators is most consequential under nonrandom assignment of teachers to students, and that value-added measures controlling for teacher fixed effects may be better suited to estimating teacher quality in this case. |
| Keywords: | teacher labor markets, teacher value-added, teacher quality |
| JEL: | I20 J08 J24 J45 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7973&r=edu |
| By: | Dhuey, Elizabeth (University of Toronto); Smith, Justin (Wilfrid Laurier University) |
| Abstract: | Many studies examine the importance of teachers in students' learning, but few exist on the contribution of principals. We measure the effect of principals on gains in primary test scores in North Carolina and estimate the standard deviation of principals' value added to be 0.12 -0.17. We find that the match between principals and schools accounts for a significant amount of principals' value added and also find that replacing the current principal has little effect on non-test score school inputs and outcomes regardless of the new principal's value added, but that brand new principals have a detrimental effect. |
| Keywords: | economics of education, principals, school leadership |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7949&r=edu |
| By: | Leuven, Edwin (University of Oslo); Plug, Erik (University of Amsterdam); Rønning, Marte (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | There exists a strong educational gradient in cancer risk, which has been documented in a wide range of populations. Yet relatively little is known about the extent to which education is causally linked to cancer incidence and mortality. This paper exploits a large social experiment where an education reform expanded compulsory schooling during the 1960s in Norway. The reform led to a discontinuous increase in educational attainment, which we exploit to estimate the effect of the reform on various cancer outcomes. Our main finding is that education has little if any impact on cancer risk. This holds for all cancer sites together as well as the most common cancer sites in isolation, with two exceptions. The compulsory school reform lowered the risk of lung cancer for men, but increased the risk of colorectal cancer for women. |
| Keywords: | education, causality, health, cancer |
| JEL: | I12 I21 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7956&r=edu |
| By: | Hugh Macartney |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first evidence that value-added education accountability schemes induce dynamic distortions. Extending earlier dynamic moral hazard models, I propose a new test for ratchet effects, showing that classroom inputs are distorted less when schools face a shorter horizon over which they can influence student performance. I then exploit grade span variation using rich educational data to credibly identify the extent of dynamic gaming, finding compelling evidence of ratchet effects based on a triple-differences approach. Further analysis indicates that these effects are driven primarily by effort distortions, with teacher reallocations playing a secondary role. |
| JEL: | D82 I21 J33 M52 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19915&r=edu |
| By: | Goux, Dominique (CREST-INSEE); Gurgand, Marc (Paris School of Economics); Maurin, Eric (Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | At the end of middle school, many low achieving students have to abandon hope of getting into selective high-school programs, which may be a source of disappointment and eventually lead them to dropout from high-school. Based on a randomized controlled trial, this paper shows that low-achieving students' aspirations can be made more realistic through a series of meetings facilitated by the school principals and that more realistic aspirations are followed by a significant reduction in grade repetition and high-school dropout. Building on detailed information on friendship networks within classes, we also find evidence that improved outcomes in treated classes encompass improved social interactions between low achieving students and their high achieving classmates. |
| Keywords: | school dropout, tack choices, school aspiration, social networks |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J18 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7948&r=edu |
| By: | Adman, Per (The Department of Government, Uppsala University) |
| Abstract: | For several decades after WWII, Swedish education reforms were justified extensively based on democratic and equality arguments. The Social Democrats, the party in governing power during this era, considered a uniform education system crucial to their endeavors towards a greater democracy and greater equality. According to current research, arguments of this kind are being used increasingly rarely to justify general reforms to public primary and secondary education. It is however unknown whether this is also true for the leftist/green opposition parties and not only the current center-right governing parties. The subject of this study is parliamentary debate and the text of the government bill concerning the latest key upper-secondary school reform of 2009, which entailed greater differentiation between students. Consequently, strong criticism from the leftist opposition from the democratic and equality perspectives was to be expected. On the contrary, this study shows that the opposition – like the center-right government – used democratic and equality arguments only to a minor extent. The results are consistent with fears, expressed with regard to Sweden and globally, that the democratic mandate is being ignored in the design of education systems for the future. |
| Keywords: | Education reforms; Sweden upper-secondary education; democratic arguments; equality arguments |
| JEL: | H75 I28 |
| Date: | 2014–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2014_002&r=edu |
| By: | Gervas Huxley; Mike Peacey |
| Abstract: | Much of the economic literature on education treats the actual process of learning as a `black box'. While these `black box' models have many interesting uses, they are of little use when a college seeks advice about reallocating resources from one input to another (e.g. from lecture hours to tutorials). Commenting on such questions requires us to `open up' the black box. In this paper, we show what one such model would look like by explicitly modelling how students vary in their `learning styles'. This model allows us to simulate how reforms to higher education would affect students with different learning styles. We consider alternative tuition fee structures and the technological change that has led to the introduction of massive open online courses (MOOCs). |
| Keywords: | Human Capital, Education Production Function, Learning Style, Independent Learner, MOOC |
| JEL: | I20 I23 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:13/319&r=edu |
| By: | Philip M. Gleason; Christina Clark Tuttle; Brian Gill; Ira Nichols-Barrer; Bing-ru Teh |
| Abstract: | This article measures the achievement impacts of 41 Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) charter middle schools nationwide and found consistently positive and statistically significant test-score effects in reading, math, science, and social studies. |
| Keywords: | KIPP, Student Achievement, Charter Schools, Education |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2014–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:8002&r=edu |
| By: | Ketel, Nadine (VU University Amsterdam); Linde, Jona (VU University Amsterdam); Oosterbeek, Hessel (University of Amsterdam); van der Klaauw, Bas (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper reports on a field experiment testing for sunk-cost effects in an education setting. Students signing up for extra-curricular tutorial sessions randomly received a discount on the tuition fee. The sunk-cost effect predicts that students who receive larger discounts will attend fewer tutorial sessions. For the full sample, we find little support for this hypothesis, but we find a significant effect of sunk costs on attendance for the 45% of students in our sample who are categorized as sunk-cost prone based on hypothetical survey questions. For them higher tuition fees can serve as a commitment device to attend classes. |
| Keywords: | sunk-cost effect, higher education, field experiment |
| JEL: | C93 D03 I22 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7951&r=edu |
| By: | Jack Britton; Carol Propper |
| Abstract: | Teacher wages are commonly set in a manner that results in flat wages across heterogeneous labor markets. Consequently teacher wages will be relatively worse in areas where local labor market wages are high. The implication is that teacher output will be lower in high outside wage areas. This paper exploits the centralized wage regulation of teachers in England to examine the effect of wages on school performance. It uses data on over 3000 schools containing around 200,000 teachers who educate around half a million children per year. We find that teachers respond to pay and schools add less value to their pupils where the regulation bites harder. Our calculations suggest that the removal of regulation would have positive social benefits. |
| Keywords: | Teacher wages, Centralised Pay Regulation, School performance, School Value Added |
| JEL: | I2 J3 J4 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:13/318&r=edu |
| By: | Luis Claudio Kubota |
| Abstract: | Pense 2012 is a survey conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in partnership with the Ministry of Health. PeNSE covers a broad range of subjects, especially risk behavior. This article has the aim of analyzing discrimination against obese and very thin students using PeNSE microdata. Data indicate that students that classify themselves as “very fat” or “very thin” are much more prone to risk zxbehaviors like consumption of illicit drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and laxatives (or vomit inducing), when compared to “normal” pupils. They are also much more likely to suffer from frequent bullying (FB), especially that motivated by their body appearance, to be active bullies, to feel frequently lonely, to suffer from insomnia, family violence, aggressions and injuries. A great percentage was involved in fights and feel that their parents rarely or never understand their problems and preoccupations. Econometric model shows that non “normal” students have a greater chance of suffering FB than “normal” pupils. Male students have greater chance of being frequently discriminated when compared to the female ones. There is no statistical difference between public and private schools. Black, yellow and Indian students have greater chance of suffering FB than white pupils. Students whose mothers didn’t study have greater chance of suffering FB than those whose mothers have completed high school education. A Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde do Escolar (PeNSE) 2012, realizada pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), em parceria com o Ministério da Saúde (MS), abrange um amplo leque de assuntos, com destaque para comportamentos de risco. Este artigo tem o objetivo de analisar a discriminação contra estudantes obesos e muito magros, utilizando microdados da Pe. Os dados indicam que alunos que se autoclassificam “muito gordos” ou “muito magros” são muito mais propensos a comportamentos de risco, como o consumo de drogas ilícitas, álcool, cigarros e laxantes (ou indução ao vômito), quando comparados com alunos “normais”. Eles também são muito mais sujeitos a sofrer bullying frequente (BF) – especialmente aquele motivado por sua aparência corporal, a serem bullies ativos, a sentirem solidão, a sofrerem de insônia, violência familiar, agressões e lesões. Um elevado percentual está envolvido em brigas e avalia que seus pais raramente ou nunca entendem seus problemas e preocupações. O modelo econométrico implementado mostra que estudantes não “normais” têm mais chance de sofrer BF que os “normais”. Os alunos do sexo masculino têm maior chance de ser discriminados em relação às alunas. Não há diferença estatisticamente significativa entre escolas públicas e privadas. Alunos pretos, amarelos e indígenas têm maior chance de sofrer BF em relação aos brancos. Estudantes cujas mães não estudaram têm maior chance de sofrer BF em relação àqueles cujas mães têm ensino médio completo. |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:1928a&r=edu |
| By: | Gabriela Miranda Moriconi; Paulo A. Meyer M. Nascimento |
| Abstract: | Este artigo busca identificar, com dados do Exame Nacional de Desempenho dos Estudantes realizado em 2011 (Enade 2011) e por meio de modelagens hierárquico-lineares, fatores associados ao desempenho dos novos engenheiros formados no Brasil naquele ano. Espera-se, com isso, fornecer aos gestores das instituições e aos formuladores de políticas para o ensino superior indícios sobre o que se mostra mais relevante na formação nas engenharias, principalmente no que concerne a fatores susceptíveis à interveniência de decisões gerenciais e/ou de formulação de políticas. Não obstante as limitações da base de dados e da endogeneidade esperada, os resultados reforçam a percepção geral de que cursos seletivos de instituições públicas destacam-se na formação de engenheiros, mas também apontam a importância, em muitos cursos, da disponibilidade do professor para atendimento fora do horário de aula e, ao menos nos cursos de engenharia de produção, da utilização de planos de ensino completos. Na média, auferem desempenho melhor os novos engenheiros que cursaram o ensino superior na idade correta e que passaram por escolas públicas durante o ensino médio. Já mulheres e minorias étnicas ainda têm notas menores que homens que se declaram brancos. This paper applies multilevel models to Brazilian’s tertiary education assessment data in order to test whether some of the factors pointed out by the literature as relevant to achievement are associated with the performance of last year engineering students in 2011. Brazil is the only country where compulsory national exams are applied to last year tertiary education students. This sets a unique opportunity to model student achievement on tertiary education as a function of discretionary and non-discretionary factors. Results confirm that selective courses produce better-prepared graduates, but also show that out-of-class availability of teachers is positively associated to performance in most types of engineering courses, and well-designed teaching-and-learning plans seem to be particularly relevant for industrial students. In average, students coming from publicly run secondary schools and attaining engineering courses in the appropriate age perform better, but women and non-whites still achieve lower grades than white men. |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:1925&r=edu |
| By: | Schiff, Maurice (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | With the 1967 reform, Canada's immigration policy changed from a country-preference system to a points system. The latter provides points according to applicants' education level but abstracts from the quality of their education. This paper considers the points system, the country-preference system, as well as a system that includes both educational quantity and quality and is termed the "𝑞2 points system." It focuses on the policies' impact on immigrants' average productive human capital â the product of educational quality and quantity â or skill level, 𝑆𝑥 (for policy 𝑥). It shows, among others, that i) 𝑆𝑥 is greater under the 𝑞2 system than under the points system (𝑆𝑞 > 𝑆ℎ); ii) a switch from a points system to a 𝑞2 system results in a human capital gain or net brain gain for Country 1 (the high-education quality country) and a loss or net brain drain for Country 2; iii) 𝑆𝑥 is greater under the country-preference system than under the points system (𝑆𝑝 > 𝑆ℎ); iv) whether 𝑆𝑥 is greater under the 𝑞2 or the country-preference system is ambiguous, with 𝑆𝑞 >( |
| Keywords: | points system, country-preference system, education quantity-quality system, Canadian immigration policy, human capital impact |
| JEL: | F22 I20 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7955&r=edu |
| By: | Majlesi, Kaveh (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Previous research has shown that school enrollment in developing countries responds to the changes in demand for low-skilled and high-skilled labor in the market. Using data from Mexico, I show that the negative effects of increases in relative demand for low-skilled labor are not limited to lower rates of school enrollment. Parents respond to the increases in labor market opportunities for low-skilled labor in the manufacturing sector by spending less time helping children with their studies and spending less on children's education while they are enrolled at school. This suggests that households respond along the intensive margin as well as on the extensive margin. |
| Keywords: | Low-skilled labor; Parental investment; Children’s education; Human capital |
| JEL: | I21 I25 J23 J24 O54 |
| Date: | 2014–02–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2014_005&r=edu |
| By: | Hoogveld, Nicky (affiliation not available); Zubanov, Nikolay (Goethe University Frankfurt) |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of recognition on performance with a field experiment involving first-year undergraduate students at a Dutch university. Our treatment, given unannounced in randomly selected student groups, was to publicly recognize students who scored within the top 30% of their group on the first of the two midterm exams. The overall treatment effect on the second midterm grade is 0.03s (s = the grade's standard deviation) for the recipients of recognition, and 0.15s for the non-recipients, both statistically insignificant. The effect for the non-recipients increases with class attendance (itself unaffected), and decreases with the distance to the cutoff grade for recognition, reaching a significant 0.44s for those exceeding the minimum attendance requirement and staying within the first quartile of the distance to cutoff. We argue that conformance to performance norm is the most likely behavioral mechanism behind our findings. |
| Keywords: | recognition, performance, experiment |
| JEL: | C93 M52 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7953&r=edu |
| By: | Driouchi, Ahmed |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with school attainment in the Arab economies. It is based on descriptive statistical analyses on Barro and Lee data for the period 1950-2010. The opportunities lost with the low level of school attainment and the corresponding time trends in Arab countries are discussed. The relatively slow speed of recovery in schooling could already be expressed by the lowest knowledge performances achieved by the economies of North Africa, Sudan and Yemen. |
| Keywords: | School attainment, Arab economies. |
| JEL: | O15 |
| Date: | 2014–02–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:53773&r=edu |
| By: | Fossen, Frank M. (Free University of Berlin); Glocker, Daniela (CEP, London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Stated survey measures of risk preferences are increasingly being used in the literature, and they have been compared to revealed risk aversion primarily by means of experiments such as lottery choice tasks. In this paper, we investigate educational choice, which involves the comparison of risky future income paths and therefore depends on risk and time preferences. In contrast to experimental settings, educational choice is one of the most important economic decisions taken by individuals, and we observe actual choices in representative panel data. We estimate a structural microeconometric model to jointly reveal risk and time preferences based on educational choices, allowing for unobserved heterogeneity in the Arrow-Pratt risk aversion parameter. The probabilities of membership in the latent classes of persons with higher or lower risk aversion are modelled as functions of stated risk preferences elicited in the survey using standard questions. Two types are identified: A small group with high risk aversion and a large group with low risk aversion. The results indicate that persons who state that they are generally less willing to take risks in the survey tend to belong to the latent class with higher revealed risk aversion, which indicates consistency of stated and revealed risk preferences. The relevance of the distinction between the two types for educational choice is demonstrated by their distinct reactions to a simulated tax policy scenario. |
| Keywords: | educational choice, stated preferences, revealed preferences, risk aversion, time preference |
| JEL: | I20 D81 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7950&r=edu |